About us

In routine or in real time, on a global or regional scale, both on the surface and beneath it, Mercator Ocean describes, analyses and forecasts the state of the ocean by developing the "Mercator System" for ocean analysis and forecasting and maintaining it in an operational condition.

Mercator Ocean is a privately-owned non-profit company. It provides a service of general interest to France and Europe as a whole. The organisation was founded and is funded by the five major French institutions involved in operational oceanography: CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Météo-France and SHOM.